The present invention relates to an animal tag of multiple shape configurations, preferably of symmetrical shapes, that has an associated case with a hollow cavity that is utilized as part of a novel plastic animal ID tag, attached to an accessory such as a dog or cat collar or leach, to assist in helping identify a pet and/or its owner. The case is configured to hold an optional RFID transponder capsule within a hollow cavity in the attachable pet tag case.
Injectible RFID capsules have been provided to shelters, veterinarians and pet hospitals in the form of a miniature glass-like capsule that is injected into the animal with a special syringe. Examples of RFID transponder capsule products for companion animals (i.e., dogs and cats) and more fully described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,550 assigned to Trovan Limited. These systems typically work by injecting the tiny chip in the form of a fully assembled transponder that is encapsulated in a housing which is normally composed of glass or ceramic material (typically 1.2-2 mm wide and can even be smaller) into the animal's body with the pet shelters using an RFID reader, such as those made by AVID, to read a unique identifiable code that is wirelessly emitted from the chip to help identify the animal.
Combination syringe and capsule transponders are sold by many companies, one of several companies that market injectible microchips for pets. With the pinch of a syringe, the microchip is inserted under the skin in a procedure that takes less than 10 minutes and leaves no stitches. Small implantable transponders, approximately 13.3×2 mm are supplied in encapsulated form in a biocompatible glass tube and delivered in a sterile one-way injectible syringe. Once the capsule is injected into a pet, silently and invisibly, the dormant chip stores a code that releases pet-specific information when a scanner passes over.
Several million RFID transponders have been injected into pets using this internally injected encased capsule identification method representing the preferred and current method of micro chipping pets to help identify them by storing information related to the pet linked to a database when the transponder is read, typically at animal pounds or shelters that are equipped with transponder readers. The microchip is intended to help identify pets for medical purposes or pet and owner identification purposes.
The advantage of having a microchip ready detachable tag accessible outside of an animal's body, such as attached to collar ID tag, is that the user can still receive the benefits afforded by a microchip without the associated surgical insertion procedure. Having the tag in an accessed external tag position reduces the expense to pet owners and thereby increases the likelihood of usage of the tag, in contrast to requiring the user to visit a vet or animal professional to inject or make a choice to use a particular brand of RFID tag from among several possible choices. The tag can also be updated with new transponder capsule(s).
As noted above, having the tag already accessed and in a useable position outside of an animal's body is advantageous for the tag supplier as it enhances the opportunities for optional inclusion and use of the RFID capsule tag. Accordingly, suppliers of conventional animal tags desire the advantages of having their particular tag physically inserted by the end-user, or placed by manufacturer or seller, into the tag cavity for placement outside of the pet's body. In the case of a conventional animal tag, the user typically can select from a number of such RFID tags and has a choice among tags for use. For example, the user may often choose from or exchange different RFID capsules for animal ID depending on features desired. This is a useful feature considering that some foreign countries require pets to have a microchip for travel to their locations and the specific type of chip frequency and standards vary from country to country. Having the ability to upgrade to the proper chip for pet travel or asset identification purposes is advantageous. It is even possible to replace an existing capsule with a new RFID capsule for program renewals, updates or future product feature enhancements. Thus, the supplier of the conventional animal tag would obtain an advantage over other conventional animal tags described in prior art by having the capsule in the tag within an upgrade cavity position, in contrast to the other identification tags that merely put a nametag on an owned object with return instructions that typically feature a name and phone number or other identifier affixed to or printed onto the tag.
This invention improves upon pet identification tags described in prior art such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,329 to Levy, Jr., that teaches a permanent pet collar identification tag and label system on a pet collar buckle. In contrast, the instant invention provides an improved and detachable pet identification tag with internal cavity for optional transponder capsule. The microchip transponder on a separate detachable tag mechanism is an enhancement to provide reliable electronic information about pets in conformance to different local standards imposed by state and local companion animal identification requirements. For the first time, it also permits the end-user or pet owner an opportunity to take advantage of the benefits of a conventional microchip transponder capsule (i.e., without the need to visit a vet for a surgical procedure to inject it within the animal's body). Such option allows for pet owners to later upgrade their chip by adding the transponder, replacing their chip capsule, or even removing it completely from the cavity when they are concerned about privacy or wish to insert alternate transponder capsules with new features and benefits as they become available or otherwise required under international or local animal control regulations (i.e., regulatory requirements for United States pet travel to Europe where animal must have a specific microchip for admittance into certain EU countries).
This invention improves upon U.S. Pat. No. 6,792,465 to Welsh and U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,065 to Shorrock, by incorporating a technological innovation with a new and useful process to incorporate an owner-controlled and accessible microchip transponder capsule innovation manufactured and contained within a cavity of a tag casing.
Such microchip tag innovation can facilitate finding lost pets under the inventor's U.S. Pat. No. 6,259,637 to Klein, that teaches a lost and found system and method by RFID technological innovation. Such RFID devices can also be used to provide reward incentives to the finder of wayward pet or other tagged objects using the system and method of Klein's allowed patent under Publication No. 20010027401, Ser. No. 09/847,913.